Living Witness (episode)
Reactivated after lying inactive for 700 years, a backup version of the Doctor tries to uncover the truth about war crimes supposedly committed by Voyager when they passed a planet centuries ago. Summary :When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative; Violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way. Captain Janeway, sporting uncharacteristically short hair and black gloves, negotiates with a Vaskan diplomat about fighting a war with the allegedly innocent Kyrians, in return for the way to a wormhole. All of a sudden, a screen freezes to hear a voice commentary from a Kyrian tour guide at the Kyrian Museum of Heritage, named Quarren, explaining how after seven hundred years, they are still recovering from the acts of the evil [[Warship Voyager|Warship Voyager]]. A Vaskan participating in the tour asks how they know any of this is true, to which he is replied by the tour guide "Look at all the evidence we have." Quarren proceeds to tell his tour that a data storage device, buried nine meters beneath the ruins of Kesef and that came from Voyager, has been recently uncovered. The device might contain personal logs or other proof directly from Voyager. After the museum closes Quarren uses recreated tools from Voyager to attempt to open the data. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." The data source is actually a backup copy of the EMH (The Doctor). Quarren tells him that as a mass murderer the Doctor will have to pay for his crimes. The Doctor is confused, wondering what crimes he is charged with. He then learns the Kyrian version of events. When he attempts to explain the correct version of events to Quarren, his explanation is met with skepticism. After some time to think, Quarren decides that the Doctor may be correct and that for seven hundred years the Kyrians have been teaching falsehood. The Doctor is then allowed to edit the simulation of Voyager''s encounter with the Kyrians. Apparently, ''Voyager was trying to negotiate for dilithium in exchange for medical supplies. But just as they were about to seal the deal, the ship was boarded by a Kyrian party, killing three engineering crewmen and taking Seven of Nine and an anonymous crewman hostage. They accuse Voyager of being the new allies of the Vaskans before they were cornered in the mess hall. This new recreation sparks a heated debate, as the Doctor's version of events implies that it was the Kyrians rather than the Vaskans who provoked the Great War. Still, some people do not believe the Doctor's testimony and demand that he be terminated. The Doctor, however, is convinced that with the medical tricorder that is on display he can prove that Tedran, a Kyrian hero and revolutionary, died at the hand of a Vaskan weapon. These new revelations snap the tension that has been steadily building between the Kyrians and the Vaskans over the past hundreds of years. During the attack of a mob at the museum, the Doctor accidentally loses the tricorder while trying to help Quarren, who was injured. After the attack, the Doctor states that he should be shut down because as an EMH he is obliged to help people, and his continued presence is causing riots and intense anger among both races. Quarren convinces him that his information is vital and will save many more people, not only now but hundreds of years from now as well, as both races cannot forge lasting relations without the real truth being known. The Doctor relents, and they begin to look for the tricorder. Further into the future, a group of Kyrians and Vaskans stand around a viewscreen, watching these events unfold. A tour guide explains how this was a turning point in the people's history, and how it brought about equality between the Kyrians and the Vaskans. The Doctor became Surgical Chancellor for many years before taking a small craft to trace Voyager's path back to the Alpha Quadrant, "claiming to have a longing for home". Memorable Quotes "Why do you always keep me waiting, Tuvok?" : - Captain Janeway in the historical simulation "Captain, don't you think that's excessive?" "You picked a bad time to have second thoughts, Ambassador." "I want them defeated, but...but this is genocide." "Defeat? Genocide? Why quibble with semantics?" : - Vaskan diplomat and Captain Janeway in the historical simulation "Don't look so shocked, Ambassador. This is what you wanted, isn't it?" : - Captain Janeway after shooting Tedran in the historical simulation "What's going to happen to me now? Will you put me on display? The holographic Rip van Winkle?" : - The Doctor concerned about his destiny "You have a better idea, Lieutenant?" "As a matter of fact, I do. Fighter shuttles-- a direct assault." "Led by you? Good luck." : - Chakotay, Tom Paris and Neelix in the historical simulation "Pure fiction. This is absurd." "Halt re-creation. This is a reasonable extrapolation from historic record. But if you'd like to point out any inconsistencies..." "Inconsistencies? I don't know where to begin. Granted, this looks like the briefing room, but these aren't the people I knew! No one behaved like this... well, aside from Mr. Paris." : - The Doctor about the holographic simulation "Somewhere — halfway across the galaxy, I hope — Captain Janeway is spinning in her grave." : - The Doctor, regarding further inconsistencies in the historical simulation "You’ve portrayed us as monsters: the captain is a cold-blooded killer, the crew is a gang of thugs and I am a mass-murderer." : - The Doctor "For your information, I don't appreciate being deactivated in the middle of a sentence. It brings back... unpleasant memories." : - The Doctor "You miss them, don't you?" "B'Elanna Torres... intelligent, beautiful, and with a chip on her shoulder the size of the Horsehead Nebula." : - Quarren and The Doctor "Please state the nature of the medical — oh...it's you." : - The Doctor, to Quarren "From my perspective, I saw them all only a few days ago. But in fact, it's been centuries. And l'll never see them again. Did they ever reach home? I wonder." : - The Doctor Background Information * Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) does not appear in this episode as she was recovering from the birth of her daughter, Emma Rose Dawson, who was born on 16 January 1998. * Some sets in this episode, including the Kyrian Museum of Heritage, were also used in . * This episode marks Tim Russ' directorial debut. This is the only episode of any Star Trek series that he directed. * When Kim and Chakotay are beating the Kyrian for information a set piece appears behind the glass of The Doctor's office that resembles an Agony booth. * Henry Woronicz previously played another alien attempting to learn his species' history though in . * This episode could technically be considered the first Star Trek episode ever not to feature any regular characters as they all appear only as holograms in Quarren's recreation of Voyager with the exception of the Doctor, who also appears as a backup version of his program. * Robert Picardo plays three different holographic versions of the Doctor in this episode (one of them an android) but does not actually play his usual character. * This episode suggests that it is possible to make a backup copy of the Doctor. However, in many other episodes (e.g., ) it appears that his program will be lost forever if it is transferred and cannot return. This may be because the backup module was lost (as explained in this episode) and therefore unusable. * Depending on one's viewpoint, this episode either flatly contradicts or firmly upholds the events of . In that episode, Harry Kim's efforts to make a new version of The Doctor fail. The presence of the EMH backup module in this episode means that either Harry had no need to make a copy of the Doctor or that his failed efforts to do so prompted the creation of the module. The determinative question never directly answered by any episode of the series is whether Voyager launched with this technology on board. * The [[Warship Voyager|Warship Voyager]] features a Kazon crew member who is an ensign. * In Quarren's original recreation, none of the crew of the Warship Voyager wear rank insignia or combadges. In addition, the normal gray undershirt worn beneath the Starfleet jumpsuit has changed to black, and many crew members wear black gloves. Some other visible differences include different hairstyles (notably Janeway's) and a much enlarged tattoo on Chakotay. * One of the misconceptions the Kyrians had of Voyager was that their home was Mars. It is possible that they deduced this from Voyager being built at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars. * When Chakotay's name was said by the holographic Voyager crew they pronounced it differently than they normally do (CHAkotay, rather than chaKOtay), suggesting that those that created the holographic simulation did not know how to pronounce it themselves. Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.12, catalogue number VHR 4633, . *As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection. Links and References Guest Stars *Henry Woronicz as Quarren *Rod Arrants as Daleth *Craig Richard Nelson as Vaskan arbiter *Marie Chambers as Kyrian arbiter *Brian Fitzpatrick as Tedran *Morgan Margolis as Vaskan visitor *Mary Anne McGarry as Tabris *Timothy Davis-Reed as Kyrian spectator Uncredited Co-Stars *Tarik Ergin as Ayala *Glenn Goldstein as a Kyrian commando *Fred Hafner as a Kyrian visitor *Tom Morga as a Borg drone *Jeff Pruitt as a Kyrian commando *Shepard Ross as Ensign Murphy *Steve Silverie as a Vaskan spectator *Unknown performers as **Kyrian commando **Tedran's accomplice **Tortured Kyrian References arbiter; assault probe; biogenic weapon; Borg drone; cerebral cortex; dilithium; Emergency Medical Hologram backup module; Great War; hedgehog; Horsehead Nebula; hyperspanner; Kazon; Kesef; Kyrian; Kyrian fighter; Kyrian-Vaskan homeworld; Mars; medical tricorder; Museum of Kyrian Heritage; neural solvent; optic nerve; particle weapon; photon torpedo; Rip Van Winkle; Syrric Ocean; Vaskan; The Voyager Encounter; [[Warship Voyager|Warship Voyager]]; wormhole |next= }} Category:VOY episodes de:Der Zeitzeuge es:Living Witness fr:Living Witness nl:Living Witness